Rev. Beverly Asbury
Portrait Details
Artist: Sam Adoquei
Year: 2021
Biography
The Rev. Beverly Asbury was born on Feb. 14, 1929, in Elberton, Georgia. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia before enrolling at Yale Divinity School, where he earned a master of divinity in 1953. Asbury became an ordained Presbyterian minister and held various appointments in North Carolina, Missouri and Ohio before being hired by then-Vanderbilt Chancellor Alexander Heard. As university chaplain and director of religious affairs, he founded the Holocaust Lecture Series at Vanderbilt. Called the “With-It Chaplain” by his students, Asbury served as a lifelong advocate for racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights and interfaith understanding.